The number of people killed in the tropical storm Bilis and from
disasters sparked off by the weather has increased to 228.
The death toll in the southern province of Guangdong rose to 63
and 30 were confirmed dead with three others missing in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, local
authorities said on Thursday.
The number of dead stood at 92 in Hunan and 43 in Fujian provinces.
At least 156 people are still missing and 26.45 million people
have been affected in some way or another in China's southern and
eastern provinces the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on
Wednesday.
The heavy rains and floods have toppled 212,000 houses, damaged
287,000 homes and forced 2.95 million residents to move to
safety.
More than 6.68 million Guangdong residents were affected and
1.08 million have been relocated. Direct economic losses have
reached 9 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion), according to Guangdong
flood control headquarters.
Four official working teams and five medical detachments rushed
to the flood-stricken areas to aid the disaster relief
operation.
Workers had repaired most of the telecommunication networks by
Thursday. The loss of the telephone service affected more than
260,000 people and resulted in economic losses of 140 million yuan
(US$17.5 million).
In neighboring Guangxi more than 6.53 million people were
affected by rainstorms, flooding and mudslides. It's estimated that
economic losses are over 2.2 billion yuan (US$2.75 million). The
local government has provided more than 5 million yuan (US$625,000)
in disaster relief and dispatched 10 working groups to flood hit
areas.
The central government has earmarked 75 million yuan (US$9.4
million) to assist Guangxi combat extreme natural disasters. This
is in addition to the 41-million-yuan (US$5.1 million) disaster
relief fund provided by the Ministry of Civil Affairs during this
year's flooding season.
Bilis landed in China last Friday and triggered very heavy
rainfalls and serious floods in Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan,
Guangdong and Guangxi.
As the power of Bilis declines the storm hit regions will
experience a major heat wave over the coming week, according to
local meteorological stations. Fujian issued a warning on Thursday
when the peak temperature was over 38 degrees Celsius.
(Xinhua News Agency July 21, 2006)